Mix of emotions on big weekend for the Bears

GAVIN Parr might not have been telling the whole truth when he said: "I was never worried" after Redcar claimed a place in the Maxicab Knockout Cup Final through a nerve-wracking extra 'Superheat' at Oxford.

- By KEITH MCGHIE

The Bears boss, like many Teesside fans, must have been chewing his nails since heat nine in Friday's semifinal first leg when, having blasted away to a 14-point lead, the Cheetahs began steadily eroding that advantage.

The home side finally won 48-42 at the ECCO Arena but three times in the deciding leg at Cowley, Oxford drew level on aggregate, only for the Bears to edge ahead again.

Yet a dramatic heat 14, in which Jody Scott had fought his way past Jonas Knudsen, Redcar’s terrier-like teenage talent overdid it and crashed to the floor while trying to repeat the feat on Cheetahs’ teammate Mitch McDiarmid.